JANUARY 15, 2020

Inside JAN 15 , 2020.qxp_Layout 1 14/01/2020 8:00 PM Page 6
Steps for coping with harmattan
• Take lots of water
Because of the dryness experienced
and the hotness of the
day, the body loses a lot of water.
Taking a lot of water keeps your
throat and mouth moistened.
• Step up your
nutrition
Take nutritional supplements
like Vitamin C
• Stay warm
Wear protective clothing during
the day and at night. Asthmatics
or those with chronic
respiratory conditions should pay
special attention to their health.
• Step up your hygiene
Sneeze into your arms, not
hands, by preventing the spread
of viruses and other infectious
agents to and from people.
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The sad reality of Accra Psychiatric Hospital
THE HEALTH care
system in Ghana
has over the years
remained an area
of concern, with
regards to delivery
systems, infrastructure and several
other pertinent issues.
Successive governments over
the years have either attempted a
resolution or overlooked the subject
altogether.
A typical point of reference is
the Accra Psychiatric Hospital.
A place, which is ideally
meant to help mentally unstable
persons recover, has now been
reduced to a pale representation
of what it actually stands for.
This sad state of the Accra
Psychiatric Hospital was uncovered
in a report compiled by
GHOne TV’s Godwin Asediba.
According to the report, the
hospital has over the years began
•A section of Accra Psychiatric Hospital
to come to terms with challenges
which seem not to go away even
with the change in governments.
Challenges that have to do with
infrastructure, space as well as
feeding.
At the special ward of the
hospital – where mentally challenged
persons are kept - the report
captured the dilapidated
hospital beds and walls, poor
sanitary conditions, broken windows
amongst several other infrastructural
deficits.
Some inmates were captured
lying on the bare floor due to the
lack of beds.
Inmates are also left at the
mercy of poor weather conditions,
especially when it rains.
That's not all patients at the ward
suffer, the issue of space also
comes to the fore.
In an interview with the Director
of the hospital, Dr Pinaman
Appau, indicated that the
issue of space arose due to families’
failure to come back for
their patients when they recover.
Patients who normally lose
knowledge of their respective
homes, families and background
are always stranded and end up
making the hospital their home.
She said, “Some of these people
have been here over twenty
years and thirty years, folders are
torn, some other folders are
missing. The Mental Health Authority
is looking at halfway
homes. This would be a place
where people who are well and
can be put back into society will
be kept…”
Feeding was also reported to
be a major challenge due to the
limited funds available to the
hospital.
The Hospital authorities have,
however, relayed a relentless call
to government and all other concerned
stakeholders to come to
their aid, and to families of patients,
to do the needful.
Meanwhile, the country has
three main mental hospitals,
namely the Accra Psychiatric
Hospital, Ankaful Psychiatric
Hospital, and Pantang Psychiatric
Hospital, as well as regional psychiatric
units all of which are in
bad conditions.
Small private psychiatric facilities
are also in operation.
GHOne news
Korle-Bu hospital to save GH¢2.1m annually
FOUR DEPARTMENTS at the
Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital will
save GH¢2.1 million of electricity
bill annually after replacing all the
high-energy consumption appliances.
The current energy expenditure
of these departments -- Child
Health, Medical Block, Accident
and Emergency Unit and Central
Laboratory -- is GH¢3.4 million,
translating into 2.8 million kilowatt/hour
per year.
To help cut down the electricity
bill, the Millennium Development
Authority (MIDA) is retrofitting
the departments with efficient energy
appliances such as refrigerators,
air-conditioners, fans and
lightning system, which are four
star-rated.
The project, known as the Energy
Efficiency and Demand Side
Management (EEDSM) of the
“RACE to RETROFIT,” is estimated
to cost US$3,000,000.
It comes under the Ghana
Power Compact II, and would be
completed in March, this year.
The four departments’ current
•Kore-Bu Teaching Hospital
power consumption of 2.8 million
kilowatt/hour per year would decline
to 1.6 million kilowatt/hour
per year, on completion of the
project, representing 40.2 per cent
reduction.
The RACE to RETROFIT
project is intended to replace highenergy
consumption electrical appliances
at public institutions with
energy efficient ones, and is
funded by the United States Government,
through the Millennium
Challenge Corporation (MCC).
Maybert/Wester Engineering
are the contractors undertaking
the job at the Korle-Bu Teaching
Hospital and five other public institutions
- University of Ghana,
Adabraka Polyclinic, Department
of Urban Roads, and Ministries of
Education and Health.
During a field tour of the departments
at Korle-Bu, Mr Richmond
Owusu, the Project
Manager, EEDSM, Energy Commission
Office, said they undertook
an audit of the four
departments to ascertain how
much electricity was being consumed
so that after the retrofitting,
they would have fair understanding
of the quantum of
energy saved.
He said the contractors would
install real energy monitoring systems
at all the beneficiary institutions
to check power
consumption, saying that the project
would serve as a base model
for replicating it in both public
and private institutions.
The Consultant for the project,
Mrs Faustina Afriyie, said a study
• From electricity bill
conducted at the Korle-Bu Hospital
before the retrofitting revealed
that air-conditioners consumed 50
per cent of power, lightning system
23 per cent, refrigerators three
per cent and other equipment 16
per cent.
The Administrator for the
Child Health Department, Ms Esther
Tetteh, said most of the existing
electrical appliances were
obsolete with high cost of maintenance
to the facility.
She said the retrofitting had
brought uniformity in the electrical
gadgets and brought down the
cost of maintenance and reduced
energy consumption.
“The fans that used to blow
hot air are now blowing fresh air
and there is a total overhaul of the
air-conditioners, fans and the
lightning system at the facility,
which is bringing us enormous
benefit and relief and we’re very
grateful to MiDA for the initiative,”
Madam Tetteh said.
The Project Engineer, Energy
Efficiency and Demand Side Management
at MiDA, Ms Priscilla
Adjei-Darko, said the project
sought to change the behaviour
and attitudes of energy users at
the various public institutions.
The Project Manager of Maybert/Wester
Engineering, Mr
Fred Sarpong, said the appliances
were four star-rated, low electricity
consuming and environmentallyfriendly
and expressed the belief it
would reduce the cost of electricity
in all the beneficiary institutions.
GNA